U.S. patent number 10,000,131 [Application Number 15/637,040] was granted by the patent office on 2018-06-19 for systems for determining relative position and orientation of a vehicle with respect to a charging station.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Jaguar Land Rover Limited. The grantee listed for this patent is Jaguar Land Rover Limited. Invention is credited to Mark McNally.
United States Patent |
10,000,131 |
McNally |
June 19, 2018 |
Systems for determining relative position and orientation of a
vehicle with respect to a charging station
Abstract
A guidance system for a motor vehicle comprising: a controller,
the controller being operable to determine whether a first length
of cable is sufficiently long to allow a charging connection to be
established between a motor vehicle and a charging station in
dependence on data corresponding to a relative position and
orientation of the vehicle with respect to the charging station;
and output means for providing an output to a user indicating
whether the cable is sufficiently long.
Inventors: |
McNally; Mark (Coventry,
GB) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Jaguar Land Rover Limited |
Coventry, Warwickshire |
N/A |
GB |
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Assignee: |
Jaguar Land Rover Limited
(Whitley, Coventry, GB)
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Family
ID: |
47748193 |
Appl.
No.: |
15/637,040 |
Filed: |
June 29, 2017 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20170297441 A1 |
Oct 19, 2017 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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14759978 |
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9862280 |
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PCT/EP2013/074933 |
Nov 28, 2013 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jan 10, 2013 [GB] |
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1300402.3 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B60L
53/37 (20190201); B60L 53/35 (20190201); B60L
53/36 (20190201); B62D 15/028 (20130101); B60L
53/31 (20190201); B60L 53/18 (20190201); B60L
11/1816 (20130101); B60L 53/305 (20190201); Y02T
90/14 (20130101); Y02T 10/70 (20130101); B60L
2250/16 (20130101); Y02T 90/12 (20130101); Y02T
90/16 (20130101); Y02T 10/7072 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01M
10/46 (20060101); B62D 15/02 (20060101); B60L
11/18 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;320/104,105,107,109,111 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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2004-291865 |
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Oct 2004 |
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JP |
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2012-039743 |
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Feb 2012 |
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JP |
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2012-095494 |
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May 2012 |
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JP |
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2013-173114 |
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Sep 2013 |
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JP |
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Other References
Machine translation of JP 2012-039743 (Feb. 23, 2012). cited by
examiner .
Notice of Reasons for Refusal, Japanese Patent Application No.
2015-552008, dated Jul. 5, 2016; 10 pages. cited by applicant .
Notice of Preliminary Rejection, Korean Patent Application No.
10-2015-7020200, dated Nov. 10, 2016, 7 pages. cited by applicant
.
Notification of the Second Office Action, Chinese Application No.
201380070110.9, dated Jan. 17, 2017. cited by applicant .
Notice of Preliminary Rejection with English language translation,
KR Application No. 10-2017-7024863, dated Dec. 11, 2017, 7 pp.
cited by applicant.
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Primary Examiner: Tso; Edward
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Myers Bigel, P.A.
Parent Case Text
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.
14/759,978, filed Jul. 9, 2015, which is a 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 371
national stage application of PCT Application No.
PCT/EP2013/074933, filed on Nov. 28, 2013, which claims priority
from Great Britain Patent Application No. 1300402.3, filed on Jan.
10, 2013, the contents of which are incorporated herein by
reference in their entireties. The above-referenced PCT
International Application was published in the English language as
International Publication No. WO 2014/108247 A2 on Jul. 17, 2014.
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. A system in a motor vehicle, the system comprising: a controller
operable to receive data indicative of a relative position or
orientation of the vehicle with respect to a vehicle charging
station and to determine in dependence on the received data whether
a length of a cable is sufficiently long to allow a charging
connection to be established between the vehicle and the charging
station via the cable; and wherein the controller is operable to
provide output to a user indicating whether the length of the cable
is sufficient to establish the charging connection.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to
determine a length of a cable route allowing a charging connection
to be established that includes one or more predetermined route
portions.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to
determine a length of a cable route allowing a charging connection
to be established that excludes one or more predetermined cable
route portions.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to
determine a length of a cable route such that the cable route is
external to a predetermined peripheral boundary of the vehicle.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the controller is configured such
that the predetermined peripheral boundary encircles a wheelbase of
the vehicle, optionally a footprint of the vehicle.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to
determine a shortest cable route between the vehicle and the
charging station.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to
determine the relative position and orientation of the vehicle with
respect to the charging station in dependence on position data
received by the controller.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the position data corresponds to
a bearing of the charging station from the vehicle or a bearing of
the vehicle from the charging station at at least two respective
different bearings; vehicle speed; vehicle trajectory; and whether
the vehicle is moving in a forward or reverse direction.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to
determine substantially continuously whether the cable is
sufficiently long when it is determined that the charging station
is within a first range of the vehicle.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to
determine the relative position and orientation of the vehicle with
respect to the charging station by reference to at least one of the
following: data in respect of a current location of the vehicle and
a location of a charging station; a wireless signal received from
the charging station; an image of an environment external to the
vehicle; and data corresponding to a distance of one or more
objects from the vehicle that have been detected by an object
distance measuring module, the object distance measuring module
being a module operable to detect radiation emitted by the module
and reflected back to the module by an object thereby to measure
object distance.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to
provide an indication to the user as to whether a length of cable
required to establish a charging connection between the vehicle and
the charging station is increasing or decreasing.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to
receive data indicative of the relative position and orientation of
the vehicle with respect to the charging station from an external
source.
13. The system of claim 1, further comprising one or more sensors
or one or more detectors for generating the data indicative of the
relative position and orientation of the vehicle with respect to
the charging station.
14. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is provided with
data indicative of the length.
15. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is provided with
data representing one or more dimensions associated with the motor
vehicle, and wherein the controller is operable to determine in
dependence on the provided data whether the length of cable is
sufficiently long.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a guidance system and method and
particularly, but not exclusively, to a guidance system and method
for plug-in electric or hybrid electric vehicles. Aspects of the
invention relate to a system, to a vehicle and to a method.
BACKGROUND
It is known to provide a plug-in electric or hybrid electric
vehicle that is connectable to an electric charging station by
means of a cable in order to accomplish a battery recharging
operation. The cable may be a discrete item connectable to the
charging station at one end and the vehicle at the other end. A
user is required to connect one end to a power outlet of the
charging station and the other into the power inlet of the vehicle.
In some alternative designs, the charge cable may be arranged to be
permanently connected to the vehicle and carried thereby, or
permanently connected to the charging station. The cable may be
stored retractably on a drum or the like.
When using charging stations at different locations, a user may
experience difficulty positioning the vehicle at a suitable
location and at a suitable orientation to ensure that a charging
connection can be made with the available cable length. Once
parked, a user may find that they are unable to establish a
charging connection due to the length of the cable being
insufficient to establish a suitable charging connection. The user
may therefore be inconvenienced by the requirement to reposition
the vehicle.
It is desirable to improve an ease with which a user may undertake
a recharging operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the invention may be understood with reference to
the appended claims.
Aspects of the present invention provide a system, a vehicle and a
method.
In one aspect of the invention for which protection is sought there
is provided a system for a motor vehicle comprising: A controller,
the controller being operable to receive data corresponding to a
relative position and orientation of the vehicle with respect to a
vehicle charging station and to determine whether a first length of
cable is sufficiently long to allow a charging connection to be
established between the vehicle and charging station in dependence
on the received data; and output means for providing an output to a
user indicating whether the first length of cable is sufficiently
long.
It is to be understood that the data corresponding to the relative
position and orientation of the vehicle with respect to the
charging station may be data from which the controller is able to
determine the relative position and orientation of the vehicle with
respect to the charging station. Alternatively the data may be data
providing for example a bearing of the vehicle from the charging
station and a distance of the vehicle from the charging station.
The orientation of the vehicle may correspond to the angle between
a longitudinal axis of the vehicle and an imaginary line from the
vehicle to the charging station, this angle being determined from
the bearing of the vehicle from the charging station. Other
arrangements are also useful.
Embodiments of the invention have the advantage that a user can be
confident that their vehicle is sufficiently close to the charging
station to enable a charging connection to be established before
they step out of the vehicle and attempt to connect the vehicle to
the charging station. This avoids the problem that the user is
inconvenienced by discovering that the vehicle is not close enough
after parking the vehicle and trying to connect the vehicle to the
charging station.
It is to be understood that some plug-in vehicles with electric
drive capability such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) or
electric vehicles (EVs) are sufficiently large that the vehicle
must be parked within a relatively small area, depending on its
orientation, in order to enable a charging connection to be
established. Embodiments of the present invention greatly reduce
the risk that the user is inconvenienced by not parking the vehicle
sufficiently close to the charging point.
The controller may be operable to determine a length of a cable
route allowing a charging connection to be established that
includes one or more predetermined route portions.
The controller may be operable to determine a length of a cable
route allowing a charging connection to be established that
excludes one or more predetermined route portions.
This feature has the advantage that the system may be prevented
from indicating the vehicle is sufficiently close when the cable
must follow an unworkable or undesirable portion of a route between
the vehicle and charging station. For example, it may be
undesirable for the cable to pass over a portion of the vehicle
body due to a risk that bodywork is damaged. Furthermore, it may be
undesirable for the cable to pass across a width of the vehicle at
a location between front and rear axles due to difficulty in
passing the cable under the vehicle.
For the avoidance of doubt, reference to front or rear axles is
intended to include reference to corresponding pairs of left and
right wheels at a front or rear of the vehicle regardless of
whether an axle physically connects the wheels to one another.
The controller may be operable to determine the length of cable
route such that the route is external to a predetermined peripheral
boundary of the vehicle.
The peripheral boundary may encircle an area corresponding to a
footprint of the vehicle. Thus the cable route may be arranged not
to pass underneath a portion of the vehicle, but rather remain
outside a footprint of the vehicle.
Optionally the controller is configured such that the predetermined
peripheral boundary encircles a wheelbase of the vehicle,
optionally a footprint of the vehicle.
In other words, the system may be configured such that the cable
route does not pass across a width of the vehicle between axles of
the vehicle. If the cable is required to pass across the vehicle
width, for the purposes of the determination made by the guidance
system it may be assumed to do so either at a position forward of
forward-most wheels or rearward of rear-most wheels of the vehicle
(in the case the peripheral boundary encircles the wheelbase and
not the footprint) or at a location forward of a forwardmost
portion of the vehicle or rearward of a rearmost portion of the
vehicle (in the case the peripheral boundary encircles the vehicle
footprint).
In embodiments in which the peripheral boundary encircles the
wheelbase, the cable may therefore pass under a portion of the
vehicle overhanging front or rear wheels at the front or rear of
the vehicle. This feature has the advantage that the cable 130 may
present less of a trip hazard to persons walking near the vehicle
120.
The controller may be operable to determine a shortest cable route
between the vehicle and charging station.
The system may be configured to take into account a value of an
allowable bend radius of the cable when bending of the cable is
required to follow the cable route. Thus the length of required
cable may be different from that in the case that the cable was
considered to be capable of bending abruptly through an angle of
substantially 90.degree..
The controller may be operable to determine a relative position and
orientation of the vehicle with respect to the charging station in
dependence on position data received by the controller.
Optionally the position data corresponds to a bearing of the
charging station from the vehicle or a bearing of the vehicle from
the charging station at at least two respective different bearings;
vehicle speed; vehicle trajectory; and whether the vehicle is
moving in a forward or reverse direction.
Thus in some embodiments the controller may be operable to receive
data corresponding to bearing and not to distance of the vehicle
from the charging station. The controller may be configured to
calculate the distance of the vehicle from the charging station by
tracking movement of the vehicle over ground as a function of time
and determining the bearing of the vehicle from the charging
station at a plurality of different respective bearings of the
vehicle. It is to be understood that relatively straightforward
trigonometric calculations may be made in order to determine the
relative position and orientation of the vehicle with respect to
the charging station based on this information.
The position data may correspond to a bearing of the charging
station from the vehicle or a bearing of the vehicle from the
charging station at at least two respective different times;
vehicle speed; vehicle trajectory; and whether the vehicle is
moving in a forward or reverse direction.
The system may be operable to determine substantially continuously
whether the cable is sufficiently long when it is determined that a
charging station is within a first range of the vehicle.
The first range may be defined as any range at which the system is
able to determine the bearing of the charging station from the
vehicle or the bearing of the vehicle from the charging
station.
The system may be operable to determine the relative position and
orientation of the vehicle with respect to the charging station by
reference to at least one selected from amongst data in respect of
a current location of the vehicle and a location of a charging
station; a wireless signal received from the charging station; an
image of an environment external to the vehicle; and data
corresponding to the distance of one or more objects from the
vehicle that have been detected by an object distance measuring
module, the object distance measuring module being a module
operable to detect radiation emitted by the module and reflected
back to the module by an object thereby to measure object
distance.
The object distance measuring module may for example comprise a
radar or ultrasonic radiation transmitter/detector module. The
module may be provided by a parking sensor.
It is to be understood that in some embodiments the system may
determine whether the vehicle is within a prescribed range of the
charging station by reference to location information derived from
a global positioning satellite (GPS) system, a general packet radio
service (GPRS) system or any other suitable location determining
system. Alternatively or in addition the system may be arranged to
receive a signal transmitted by the charging station and received
by a receiver of the vehicle in order to determine whether the
vehicle is within a prescribed range. The signal may be a short
range radio signal such as a Bluetooth.RTM. signal, a wi-fi signal
or any other suitable signal.
In some still further embodiments, in addition or instead the
system may be operable to determine whether the vehicle is within a
prescribed range by reference to an image captured by a camera
fitted to the vehicle. The system may be arranged to identify the
charging station or an object or image such as an icon associated
with the charging station that is detected in the captured image.
In some embodiments, in addition or instead the system may be
arranged to employ an object distance measuring module as noted
above such as a parking sensor module or the like. The module may
for example employ a radar signal or ultrasonic radiation to detect
the distance of the vehicle from a charging station or object
associated with the charging station.
The system may be arranged to correlate data in respect of relative
positions of the charging station and vehicle obtained by two or
more different methods such as two or more of the above described
methods in order to increase confidence in the determination
whether the vehicle is within the prescribed range of the charging
station.
The system may be operable to provide an indication to the user as
to whether an amount of cable required to establish a charging
connection between the vehicle and the charging station is
increasing or decreasing.
This feature has the advantage that a user can adjust a position, a
trajectory and/or a speed of the vehicle as the user maneuvers the
vehicle thereby to conveniently position the vehicle sufficiently
close to the charging station to enable a charging connection to be
established. It is to be understood that this may reduce a risk of
`sail past` in which a user drives the vehicle sufficiently close
to the charging station to enable a charging connection to be
established, but then moves out of range of a charging
connection.
The system may be operable to receive data corresponding to the
relative position and orientation of the vehicle with respect to
the charging station from an external source.
The system may comprise one or more sensors or one or more
detectors for generating the data corresponding to the relative
position and orientation of the vehicle with respect to the
charging station.
The controller may be provided with data indicative of the first
length.
In a further aspect of the invention for which protection is sought
there is provided a motor vehicle comprising a system according to
a preceding aspect.
In one aspect of the invention for which protection is sought there
is provided a method comprising: determining by means of a
controller whether a prescribed length of cable is sufficiently
long to allow a charging connection to be established between a
motor vehicle and a charging station in dependence on data
corresponding to a relative position and orientation of the vehicle
with respect to the charging station; and providing an output to a
user indicating whether the cable is sufficiently long.
The method may comprise generating data corresponding to the
relative position and orientation of the vehicle with respect to
the charging station from one or more sensors or one or more
detectors.
Within the scope of this application it is expressly intended that
the various aspects, embodiments, examples and alternatives set out
in the preceding paragraphs, in the claims and/or in the following
description and drawings, and in particular the individual features
thereof, may be taken independently or in any combination. Features
described with reference to one embodiment are applicable to all
embodiments, unless such features are incompatible.
For the avoidance of doubt, it is to be understood that features
described with respect to one aspect of the invention may be
included within any other aspect of the invention, alone or in
appropriate combination with one or more other features.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
One or more embodiments of the invention will now be described, by
way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures in
which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a vehicle according to an
embodiment of the present invention coupled to a charging station
in front of the vehicle by means of a charge cable as viewed from
one side;
FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 at two
different locations with respect to a charging station;
FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 in the
position shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 shown
coupled to a charging station at the side of the vehicle by a front
left-hand wheel, the cable passing around a front of the vehicle
outside a footprint along a peripheral boundary of the vehicle;
and
FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 at the
location shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle being coupled to a charging
station at the side of the vehicle by a front left-hand wheel, the
cable passing around a front of the vehicle along the peripheral
boundary of the vehicle.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 shows a vehicle 120 according to an embodiment of the
present invention. The vehicle 120 is shown parked adjacent to a
charging station 110 located ahead of the vehicle 120. The vehicle
120 has two rear wheels 121R and two steerable front wheels
121F.
In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the vehicle 120 has a charge socket
122 located on a right-hand side of the vehicle 120 above the rear
right-hand wheel 121R. The charge socket 122 is shown connected to
a plug 132P that is attached to one end of a charging cable
130.
The vehicle 120 has a guidance system controller 123, which may be
in the form of a computing means or computing device, operable to
provide an indication to a user of the vehicle 120 whether or not
the vehicle 120 is at a location sufficiently close to the charging
station 110 to allow the charging cable 130 to establish a charging
connection between the vehicle 120 and the charging station
110.
The controller 123 is arranged to receive a radio signal from an
antenna module 123A mounted to a roof of the vehicle 120. The
controller 123 is configured to determine a bearing of the vehicle
120 from the charging station 110 based on the signal received from
the antenna module 123A. It is to be understood that a number of
different known radio navigation technologies may be employed in
order to determine the bearing of the vehicle 120 from the charging
station 110. In the present embodiment, by the term bearing is
meant an angle between a longitudinal axis L of the vehicle 120
(FIG. 2) and an imaginary line from the vehicle 120 to the charging
station 110.
The controller 123 is also arranged to receive data corresponding
to vehicle speed, vehicle trajectory and whether the vehicle 120 is
moving in a forward or reverse direction.
This data is read by the controller 123 from a controller area
network (CAN) bus 125B. The CAN bus 125B allows controllers
connected thereto to share data with one another. In the present
case, guidance system controller 123 receives data corresponding to
vehicle speed and selected gear that is published on the CAN bus
125B by a powertrain controller 125P. From the selected gear the
controller 123 may determine whether the vehicle 120 is moving in a
forward or reverse direction. The controller 123 also receives data
indicating a steerable road wheel angle published on the CAN bus
125B by a steering controller 125S.
FIG. 2 illustrates the method by which the guidance system
controller 123 determines the relative location of the vehicle 120
and charging station 110. As the vehicle 120 travels to the
charging station 110, at location L1 the vehicle antenna module
123A receives the radio signal transmitted by the charging station
antenna 110A and determines the value of angle .theta.1 between the
vehicle longitudinal axis L and an imaginary line from the vehicle
120 to the charging station 110 of length R1. The guidance
controller 123 monitors vehicle speed, trajectory and whether the
vehicle 120 is moving in a forward or reverse direction. At
location L2 the guidance controller 123 again determines the value
of angle .theta.2 between the vehicle's longitudinal axis L and the
imaginary line to the charging station 110, this time of length R2.
Based on the measured values of .theta.1 and .theta.2, a knowledge
of the path of the vehicle 120 over ground between locations L1 and
L2, the guidance controller 123 is able to determine the relative
position and orientation of the vehicle 120 with respect to the
charging station 110. In the embodiment of FIG. 1 the controller
123 determines a straight-line distance D1 between locations L1 and
L2 based on vehicle speed and vehicle trajectory over the period of
travel from location L1 to location L2. The controller 123 then
calculates the distance R2 between the vehicle 120 and charging
station 110 at location L2 from the values of .theta.1, .theta.2
and D1. The orientation of the vehicle 120 at location L2 is
determined by reference to the value of .theta.2.
In the present embodiment the controller 123 also receives data
indicating an angle of the longitudinal axis L of the vehicle 120
with respect to magnetic north. From this data and a knowledge of
the position of the charging station charge socket 112 with respect
to the charging station, the controller 120 is able to determine
more accurately the required length of cable 130 to enable a
charging connection to be established.
For example, the controller 123 may be provided with data
corresponding to a direction along which a charge cable 130 is
required to connect to the charging station charge socket 112 with
respect to magnetic north or any other suitable reference such as
true north. The controller 123 may be configured to take this into
account when determining a required length of cable 130 to
establish a charging connection.
In some embodiments the controller 123 may be configured repeatedly
to determine the distance R of the vehicle 120 from the charging
station 110 and the orientation .theta. of the vehicle 120 with
respect to the charging station 110 whenever the controller 123 is
able to receive a signal transmitted by a charging station 110.
In an alternative embodiment, the guidance system controller 123 is
able to determine the distance of the vehicle 120 from the charging
station 110 as well as the bearing of the charging station 110 from
the vehicle 120 (or vice-versa) from a radio signal received from
the charging station at a single location of the vehicle 120.
In the present embodiment, the charging station 110 is configured
to transmit a short range radio signal from the antenna 110A which
is detected by vehicle antenna module 123A. As well as allowing the
guidance system controller 123 to determine bearing data, the
station 110 also encodes with the signal an identifier
corresponding to the identity of the charging station 110. The
identifier may include location information such as geographical
coordinates of the charging station 110 (for example latitude and
longitude data). In some embodiments the guidance system controller
123 is operable to determine whether charging at the charging
station 110 is permitted, for example responsive to data
transmitted by the charging station indicating whether charging is
permitted or by reference to a database of charging stations at
which charging is permitted. Other arrangements are also
useful.
In the event that a signal is received from a plurality of stations
110, the controller 123 may be operable to select a predetermined
one of the charging stations according to the identifier
transmitted by the charging station 110. For example in some
embodiments the controller 123 may select the charging station
corresponding to the user's residence, place of work, or the like.
In some embodiments the controller 123 may be operable to select
the nearest charging station 110 to the vehicle 120 at a given
moment in time.
In some embodiments the controller 123 may receive data
corresponding to the cost of charging the vehicle 120 by means of
the charging station 110. For example the data may indicate the
cost levied by an operator of the charging station 110, for example
the cost per unit of charge plus any parking or other charges
associated with use of the charging station 110. The guidance
system controller 123 may be configured to provide a corresponding
indication to the user by means of a vehicle HMI (human machine
interface) display 123D. The controller 123 may be configured in
some embodiments to determine how much charge the vehicle requires
to receive (or download) based on the battery state of charge (SoC)
and provide an indication to the user as to the expected cost based
on cost data transmitted by the charging station 110.
When the guidance system controller 123 detects the presence of a
charging station 110 based on a signal received by the antenna
module 123A, the controller 123 is arranged to provide an
indication to a user of the vehicle 120 that a charging station 110
has been detected. The controller 123 may in some embodiments be
operable to provide an indication to the user of the location of
the charging station 110. The controller 123 may be operable to
provide route guidance information to direct the user to the
charging station 110 if required.
FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the vehicle 120 in the location shown
in FIG. 1. At this location and in the cable configuration shown in
FIG. 1, the cable 130 has a fall from the vehicle charge socket 122
directly to ground 101 of length dhv. The cable 130 then runs along
the ground 101 around a front corner CFR of the vehicle 120 and on
to a location immediately below the charge socket 112 of the
charging station 110. The cable 130 rises substantially vertically
upwards to connect to the charging station charge socket 112 by
means of a second plug 134P that is provided at a second free end
of the cable 130. At the charging station 110, the cable 130 has a
fall of length dhs from the charge socket 112 to ground 101. It can
be seen from FIG. 1 that the charge socket 112 is located a
distance dlongcs forward of the vehicle charge socket 122 with
respect to longitudinal axis L of the vehicle.
In the present embodiment the controller 123 is configured to
determine whether an available length of charge cable 130 is
sufficiently long to reach from the vehicle charge socket 122 to
the charging station charge socket 112. The controller 123
accomplishes this by determining a required length of the cable 130
between the charge sockets 112, 122 on the basis that the cable
follows a shortest approved route between the sockets 112, 122.
In the present embodiment the controller 123 calculates the
required length along a route that requires the cable to (1) fall
substantially vertically directly from the vehicle charge socket
122 to ground; (2) travel along a peripheral boundary PB of the
vehicle 120 (FIG. 3); (3) travel over ground substantially directly
to the charging station 110 from the peripheral boundary in a
direction substantially normal to the peripheral boundary PB; and
(4) rise substantially vertically to the charging station charge
socket 112. It is to be understood that other arrangements are also
useful.
The peripheral boundary PB is defined by an imaginary line on the
ground 101 that encircles the vehicle a distance ds outside a
footprint area of the vehicle 120. In the present embodiment ds has
a value of substantially 0.1 m although other distances (including
zero distance) are also useful. The footprint area of the vehicle
120 is defined as the area over which a shadow would be cast on the
ground 101 if the vehicle 120 were illuminated from above with
substantially parallel, vertical rays of illumination, excluding
areas corresponding to the location of any wing mirrors of the
vehicle 120 and the like.
In the present embodiment the route along and/or around the
peripheral boundary PB is selected so that a portion of the cable
130 that runs from the peripheral boundary PB to the charge socket
112 of the charging station 110 runs over a distance that is the
shortest available distance. This is so as to reduce the amount of
cable 130 not located at the peripheral boundary. The cable
configuration of FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 illustrates this
arrangement.
It can be seen from FIG. 3 that, due to a lateral offset of an
amount dlatcs of the charging station charge socket 112 from a
longitudinal portion PBL of the peripheral boundary PB running
along the right-hand side of the vehicle 120, the cable 130 follows
the peripheral boundary PB of the vehicle 120 from the vehicle
charge socket 122 around the front right-hand corner CFR of the
vehicle 120 to a location A1 in front of the vehicle 120 before
running to the charging station 110 along a line substantially
perpendicular to the peripheral boundary PB.
The controller 123 determines the length of the selected route and
determines whether this is less than or substantially equal to the
available length of charging cable 130, which is known to the
controller 123. If the cable 130 is sufficiently long the
controller 123 provides a corresponding indication to the user. In
order to enable the controller 123 to determine the required length
of cable 130, the controller 123 is provided with data
corresponding to a distance dhv from the vehicle charging socket
122 substantially vertically downwards to ground 101; a distance
dhs from the charging station socket 112 substantially vertically
downwards to ground 101; a longitudinal distance dlongPBR from the
vehicle charging socket 122 to a rearmost position of the
peripheral boundary PB where the peripheral boundary PB runs
laterally behind the vehicle 120 from one side of the vehicle 120
to the other, a longitudinal distance dlongPBF from the vehicle
charging socket 122 to a forwardmost position of the peripheral
boundary PB where the peripheral boundary PB runs laterally in
front of the vehicle 120 from one side of the vehicle 120 to the
other; and a lateral width of the peripheral boundary dlatPB from
one longitudinal side PBL of the peripheral boundary PB to the
other. In the embodiment discussed herein the vehicle 120 is
assumed to have a substantially rectangular footprint area and
therefore the peripheral boundary PB is assumed to have a
correspondingly rectangular shape. Other shapes of peripheral
boundary PB are useful in some embodiments.
In some embodiments, if the charge cable 130 is not sufficiently
long to enable such a connection to be made, but would be
sufficiently long if the cable 130 followed a longer route from the
charging station charge socket 112 to the peripheral boundary PB,
the latter route is selected by the controller 123. An example of
such a route is illustrated by the dashed line B1 in FIG. 3. It can
be seen that as the cable 130 bends around the front right-hand
corner CFR of the vehicle 120 along the peripheral boundary PB,
instead of following the peripheral boundary PB to location A1 the
cable 130 is directed to run in a substantially straight line
directly towards the charging station 110. The cable 130 therefore
follows a route between the charging sockets 122, 112 requiring a
shorter length of cable 130 to be used whilst not penetrating the
peripheral boundary PB. It is to be understand that it is
preferable to avoid penetrating the peripheral boundary in order to
prevent snagging of the able 130, for example by becoming trapped
under a wheel 121F, 121R of the vehicle 120.
In the present embodiment, an icon on a guidance system display
123D representing the charging station 110 illuminates in a green
colour when the vehicle 120 is sufficiently close to the charging
station 110 to enable a charging connection to be established with
the available length of charging cable 130.
Furthermore, in the present embodiment if the amount of cable 130
required to establish a charging connection is 20% or more of the
available cable length, the icon representing the charging station
110 illuminates in a red colour. If the amount of cable 130
required is more than the available length but less than 20% in
excess of the available length, the icon representing the charging
station 110 illuminates in orange. This enables the user to gauge
the distance of the vehicle 120 from a location at which the
charging cable 130 is sufficiently long to enable a connection to
be made.
Other arrangements are also useful. For example, other proportions
of the available length of cable 130 may be employed to determine
icon colour instead of 20%. In some embodiments an absolute length
of cable 130 in excess of the available length may be employed to
determine icon colour.
Other forms of indication may be provided in addition or instead,
such as a different visual icon, an audible alert or any other
suitable indication. In some embodiments the controller 123
provides an indication of the actual amount (in units of length,
for example meters or feet) of the amount of additional cable that
would be required in order to establish a charging connection from
the vehicle's current location. This information may assist the
user in positioning the vehicle 120 at a location at which a
charging connection may be made.
In some embodiments the controller 123 is configured to take into
account the presence of one or more obstacles between the vehicle
120 and charging station 110 in determining the length of cable 130
required to establish a charging connection. Data in respect of the
presence of one or more obstacles may be stored in a memory of the
vehicle 120 that is accessible by the controller 123, and/or
transmitted to the controller 123 by a second computing means or
device associated with the charging station 110. The data may be
transmitted to the vehicle 120 by means of the charging station
antenna 110A, optionally employing the same radio signal as that
used by the controller 123 to determine the bearing of the vehicle
120 from the charging station 110.
In the embodiment of FIG. 1 the controller 123 is configured to
determine the length of cable 130 required to connect the vehicle
120 to the charging station 110 with any required bends of the
cable 130 being of a predetermined radius. The predetermined radius
may correspond to a smallest radius to which the cable 130 may be
repeatedly bent without significant damage to the cable 130.
It is to be understood that the vehicle antenna module 123A may
comprise a plurality of antenna elements in order to enable the
bearing of the charging station 110 to be determined. In some
embodiments the vehicle 120 may be provided with a plurality of
antenna modules 123A in order to determine charge station
bearing.
It is to be understood that in the configuration shown in FIG. 1
and FIG. 3 the controller 123 may be arranged to calculate the
required length of cable 130 to establish a charging connection by
summing the values of dhv, dlongcs, dlongPBF, dlatcs,
(dlongcs-dlongPBF) and dhs, to obtain a value dtotal. Other summing
operations may also be useful. The controller 123 may adjust the
value of dtotal to account for the fact that the cable 130 does not
bend abruptly when required to bend, but bends with a curvature
having a predetermined minimum radius. The controller 123 may
therefore take into account the number of required bends and the
angle through which the cable is bent at each bend.
The value of dhv and dhs may be adjusted to compensate for bending
of the cable 130 in the vicinity of plugs 132P, 134P if bending is
required.
The controller 123 may be configured to calculate a shortest path
of the cable 130 that is required in order to establish a charging
connection given any further constraints that may be imposed. For
example, in some situations it may be desirable for a charging
cable 130 to travel along a peripheral boundary PB of the vehicle
120 in one direction in preference to another in some
circumstances.
FIG. 4 shows a scenario in which the vehicle 120 is parked with the
charging station 130 located opposite a front left-hand wheel 121F.
The controller 123 has determined the location of the vehicle 120
with respect to the charging station 110 and that two possible
routes exist for the cable 130 to run from the vehicle charge
socket 122 to the charging station charge socket 112.
In the scenario of FIG. the cable 130 follows a route in which the
cable 130 runs rearwardly from the vehicle charge socket 122 along
the peripheral boundary PB to the charging station charge socket
110. As can be seen from FIG. 4 in conjunction with FIG. 1 the
required cable length is calculated based on a knowledge of
distance dhv, dlongPBR, dlatPB, dlongcs and dhs.
FIG. 5 shows an alternative route in which the cable 130 runs
forward from the vehicle charge socket 122 along the peripheral
boundary PB to the charging station charge socket 112. The guidance
system controller 123 is configured to determine the length of
cable 130 required in order to establish a charging connection via
this route. The controller 123 calculates the required length of
cable 130 based on a knowledge of distance dhv, dlongPBF, dlatPB,
dlongcs and dhs. The distance dlongcs corresponds to the
longitudinal distance from the forward limit of the peripheral
boundary PB to the location along the longitudinal portion of the
peripheral boundary PB at which the charging cable 130 rises to the
charging station charge socket 112.
The controller 123 determines whether the route requiring the
shortest length of cable 130 is sufficiently short to enable a
charging connection to be established using the available length of
cable 130. Having made this determination the controller 123 sets
the colour of the icon representing the charging station to either
green, orange or red as discussed above.
In some embodiments, the controller 123 may be operable to
calculate the required length of cable 130 for a route that allows
the cable 130 to pass underneath a portion of the vehicle 120. In
some embodiments in which this is permitted, the controller 123 may
be operable to calculate the required length of cable 130 for a
route in which the cable 130 follows an alternative peripheral
boundary PB' which passes laterally across the vehicle at a
distance ds forward of a forwardmost portion of a front wheel 121F
of the vehicle and/or a distance ds rearward of a rearmost portion
of a rear wheel 121R. The alternative peripheral boundary PB' may
be arranged to follow a similar path to peripheral boundary PB
except where the cable crosses a width of the vehicle 120. The
value of ds may be any suitable value as noted above, for example
of around 0.1 m. A dimension dlongPBF' associated with the
alternative peripheral boundary corresponding to dimension dlongPBF
may therefore be employed to determine a required length of cable,
in addition to a reduced value of dlongcs in the scenario of FIG.
5.
In some embodiments the controller 123 may be operable to determine
a required cable length on the basis that the cable 130 is
permitted to pass underneath the vehicle 120 at a location between
forwardmost and rearmost wheels 121F, 121R of the vehicle 120.
Embodiments of the present invention have the advantage that a user
of a vehicle 120 can know whether or not the vehicle 120 is
currently positioned sufficiently close to a charging station 110
to enable a charging connection to be established between the
vehicle 120 and charging station 110 using an available charging
cable 130. The guidance system controller 123 is provided with data
representing certain dimensions associated with the vehicle 120 as
well as the length of charging cable 130 available to the user.
Based on this information and a knowledge of the position of the
charging station 110 relative to the vehicle 120 the controller 123
is able to determine whether the cable 130 is sufficiently
long.
It is to be understood that in some embodiments in addition to or
instead of employing a radio signal to determine the location of
the vehicle 120 with respect to the charging station 110, the
controller 123 may be operable to employ data obtained by reference
to one or more images captured by one or more cameras of the
vehicle 120 that is/are configured to capture images of an
environment external to the vehicle 120. For example one or more
cameras may be positioned to capture an image of an environment
ahead of the vehicle, behind the vehicle, to a side of the vehicle
and/or any other suitable area external to the vehicle 120. In some
embodiments the controller 123 may be operable to recognise the
presence of a charging station 110 by reference to one or more
characteristics of the charging station 110. In some embodiments an
identifier may be attached to a charging station 110 that may be
recognised in a captured image by the controller 123, for example a
QR code or other symbol or icon. One or more other sensors that may
be associated with the vehicle 120 may be employed where available,
such as one or more parking sensors.
Embodiments of the invention have the advantage that a driver may
be provided with an indication as to whether the vehicle 120 is
sufficiently close to a charging station 110 to enable a charging
connection to be made. This prevents a situation occurring in which
the user exits the vehicle 120 only to find the vehicle 120 is not
parked sufficiently close to a charging station 110 to enable a
charging connection to be established.
In some embodiments the controller 123 may be operable to provide
guidance information to the user, for example an indication as to a
required or an advisable orientation of the vehicle 120 with
respect to a charging station 110 to enable a charging connection
to be established. In some embodiments the controller 123 may
provide an indication to a user whether an allowable route exists
enabling connection of the vehicle 120 to the charging station 110,
allowability being determined with respect to one or more rules in
addition to the requirement that the route length does not exceed
that of the available cable 130. A rule may prescribe for example
that at a particular charge station location a cable 130 must
follow a shortest route to a side of the vehicle 120 on which the
charging station 110 is located, or that a cable 130 may not pass
in front of and/or behind the vehicle 120. Other rules may also be
imposed in addition or instead. Rules may be prescribed for example
by legislation, by a charge station operator, a vehicle operator or
any other body.
Throughout the description and claims of this specification, the
words "comprise" and "contain" and variations of the words, for
example "comprising" and "comprises", means "including but not
limited to", and is not intended to (and does not) exclude other
moieties, additives, components, integers or steps.
Throughout the description and claims of this specification, the
singular encompasses the plural unless the context otherwise
requires. In particular, where the indefinite article is used, the
specification is to be understood as contemplating plurality as
well as singularity, unless the context requires otherwise.
Features, integers, characteristics, compounds, chemical moieties
or groups described in conjunction with a particular aspect,
embodiment or example of the invention are to be understood to be
applicable to any other aspect, embodiment or example described
herein unless incompatible therewith.
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